


The Spirit of the Hero

by GreekgeekSingsUndertale



Series: Spirit of the Hero [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/M, Hylians, One Shot, Post-Game, Sheikah, Zelda died, gerudo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 11:52:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15863070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreekgeekSingsUndertale/pseuds/GreekgeekSingsUndertale
Summary: There are stories of a shadow lurking around Hyrule, and five kids take the time to tell the legend.





	The Spirit of the Hero

A group of five kids sat around a fire. They were all approaching adulthood, as they were all 16, except for one who was 15 and their birthdays were coming soon. They got permission to camp out in the woods for the night and they were preparing to go to sleep, until…

“SCARY STORIES!” One of the kids shouted suddenly. He was a Hylian boy with brown hair and green eyes and he was the youngest of the group. His name was Odin.

“Yeah!” This boy was a Sheikah, with white hair and brownish-reddish eyes. His name was Oran and he was the older half-brother of Odin.

“I don’t know if we should,” a Hylian girl with blond hair and green eyes. Her name was Griselda. “It’s getting late and we should get inside the tents before monsters appear.”

“You know that monsters don’t appear here,” a Gerudo girl with pink hair poked Griselda. Her name was Isami. “You just can’t handle scary stories!”

“What!” Griselda looked affronted, “t-that is not true!”

“Well,” Isami smiled mischievously, “then there is no reason we can’t tell stories! Who’s going first?”

Griselda murmured something under her breath about monsters as Odin spoke.

“I know the only reason we were allowed to camp was because we went here,” Odin gestured to the small forest, “but why is this area safer than anywhere else? Why aren’t we being attacked by stalkoblins and the like?”

Everyone turned to him with different expressions of shock on their faces.

“Are you telling me you doing know the legend of the Spirit of the Hero?!” Isami asked. “You live in Kakariko Village and you don’t know of the Spirit of the Hero?!”

“The elder says we shouldn’t talk about the story,” Oran answered as Odin felt embarrassed. “They say it dishonors the name of the hero.”

“I know what story we’re telling!” Isami grinned.

“Should we?” Griselda asked, “it does dishonor the hero, and he did a lot for us.”

While Isami started to explain that it was just a story, the fifth and final member of the group spoke.

“It was a thousand and one hundred years ago.” Rin spoke up. He was a Sheikah, one with white hair and red eyes. His face had the Sheikah eye tattooed on his forehead and nose. “The Hero of the Wild, Link, died while fighting the Calamity.”

“I know that,” Odin interjected.

“Rin,” Oran whispered, “what would the elder say?”

Run ignored them both.

“He was placed inside the Shrine of Resurrection, an ancient Sheikah healing chamber. One hundred years later he awoke with no memory, not of his family, not of his friends, and not any of himself.”

They all turned, except for Rin, when they heard a scuffling in the trees. Griselda whispered monsters, but ultimately did nothing as Rin continued his story.

“He traveled all over Hyrule, freeing the Divine Beast and even gaining one for himself. He reclaimed a few of his memories, too, but he could never fully remember his life.

“A year after waking up, he stormed the castle and defeated the Calamity, rescuing the princess. After that, he lived a normal life, following the princess as her loyal knight, until…”

Everyone who knew of the story sighed and Odin looked around confused.

“What? What happened?” He asked.

“The Princess died,” Griselda explained, “they say it was the saddest day in all of Hyrule’s history, even more so than the entire hundred years of the Calamity.”

“They say the Goddesses themselves cried,” Isami, “that it rained everywhere at once, even in the desert.”

“But, most importantly,” Oran looked at his brother, “the hero took it really hard.”

“That’s an understatement,” Rin stated, “the hero loved the princess, staying with her till her dying breath. To make it worse, she died young at 30 and the hero had already lost so much that her death was the final straw.

“They say he went crazy, once she died. No one saw him again after that day and all of his stuff disappeared, along with the fabled Sheikah Slate. But, there was evidence of him. Flowers would appear on the princess’s grave everyday, and they would always be a silent princess flower, which was told to be her favorite. People would catch glimpses of the champion’s tunic that the hero would always wear.”

“What does any of that have to with this forest?” Odin asked, but was immediately shushed by Isami.

“But, the day came, too, that the hero would have to pass onto whatever came next. The only evidence of his passing, after fifty years of living without the princess, was that the silent princesses were no longer placed on her grave.”

“So he died and now he haunts the forest?” Odin raised an eyebrow.

“Odin,” Isami groaned, “I swear to Din, if you don’t stop talking! There’s more to the story!”

And there was, as Rin continued.

“The story doesn’t end with his death, neither the first time, the second time, or any time that came after. The hero who has lived through the death of all things didn’t want to go. He refused to die, so he went to the Shrine of Resurrection, where only he can go, and he went back to his hundred year sleep. Once awakened, it was like he was back at the Calamity, with no memory and only a desire to save everyone. Thus started the cycle of the never dying hero.

“He can be seen anywhere, from Death Mountain to the Gerudo Desert. In every crack and corner of Hyrule, he is there. If you hear a child’s laughter, that is the hero with the children of the forest. If a monster drops dead, that’s the hero slaying a beast. There is no place in Hyrule that the hero hasn’t set foot on.

“Every hundred years, it is assumed that the hero puts himself back to sleep to wake up in the next century. The only way to know if he is awake, is to look at the shrines, they turn blue once he has been to one.

“But why does he do this and what is he really? Some say he’s stuck in a never-ending cycle, where he follows the path he took during the Calamity, never getting to rest from fighting his enemy that is no longer here. Some say that he died a thousand years ago and every time he’s seen it’s just an illusion. But some believe he’s protecting the decedents of his friends and the princess, or anyone in general.

“The reason this forest is safe, it’s where the hero appears the most often. No monsters dare to spawn here, and, if they do, they are rumored to be killed by the hero.

“But regardless of what anyone believes, they all agree on one thing. If he is still alive, he is no longer the same man that saved Hyrule. His memory taken away after every long sleep. He is nothing but instinct and courage, some even say he couldn’t be a man anymore.

“He’s the hero that has seen everything, but remembers nothing. He’s only a shadow of a man that refuses to die. He’s the Spirit of the Hero and he only has one command that he will always follow: protect Hyrule, protect the princess.”

There was silence over the group as Rin finished the story. No one spoke until Odin asked a question.

“So, is he awake?”

Oran hesitantly nodded, “five years ago, the towers all turned blue. Even if he doesn’t exist, it’s true that no monsters spawn in this forest.”

“But why this forest?” Odin asked, “out of all of the forests and woods in Hyrule?”

“The hero is said to wake up on the plateau over there,” Griselda answered while pointing to the distant land mass, “and when he leaves he would have to cross through this forest.”

“This forest also used to be ten times bigger,” Rin added on, “and it was really important to a past form of the hero, if you are to believe those legends.”

The group fell silent again.

“Oh, lighten up!” Isami shoved Griselda. “It’s just a story.”

“So you don’t believe in the Spirit?” Griselda asked.

“Nah,” the Gerudo answered, “if his mission is to save the princess, there’s nothing to do. There hasn’t been a monarchy ruling Hyrule since before the Calamity.”

“Can we stop talking about this,” Oran asked, “our elder says the story makes him seem not human, like he’s a beast.”

“Sur-“ Rin was interrupted by a loud rustling noise.

They all turned to see a group of five stalmoblins matching their way to the group.

“I told you we should’ve got in the tent!” Griselda shouted in fear as she backed away.

Rin, Odin, and Oran grabbed their blades that they were trained to use while Isami grabbed her spear and shield. Griselda regretted leaving her bow packed in her bag and not on her back like the others had their weapons.

Odin was shaking and the four slowly backed up with Griselda.

“What do we do?” He asked.

Rin answered, “wait until they come closer and attack. If we can’t handle them, we run.”

“M-maybe the hero,” Odin suggested, “maybe he’ll save us.”

_The hero that has seen everything, but remembers nothing._

“We can’t wait for a legend to become real!” Isami shouted.

_The shadow of a man that refuses to die._

The monsters kept creeping closer until on pulled out a bow an aimed directly for Griselda. The blonde could do nothing as the arrow was pulled back and it felt like time slowed down when it fired, so that she would feel every second of death.

_He’s the Spirit of the Hero and he only has one command…_

Suddenly, a blur of blue jumped in front of Griselda just as the arrow fired. The blue blocked the attack with an shield.

_Protect Hyrule…_

Everything froze as all of the Hylians, Sheikah, Gerudo, and monsters stared at the man now in front. The five friends could only see his dark blue Hylian hood and his Hylian trousers that he wore, but the monsters could see the sky blue champion’s tunic and furious face of a man with blond hair and sky blue eyes.

_Protect the princess…_

The man turned to look at Griselda and the others stared at him in disbelief. The man in front of them was the hero, this was Link, who was starring at Griselda with a pained expression.

He turned around and quickly killed the monsters. It was a wonderful sight to see and the hero was quicker than light and stronger than a god. The five could do nothing but stare in awe.

Once done, the hero turned to face them. They could all see his face more clearly now, especially the scars that lined his face.

“Thank you!” Griselda whispered to the hero.

The hero looked at her once more and, to everyone’s surprise, kneeled. Once kneeling, his hand moved to his hip and did something they couldn’t see under his cape. He then disappeared in a shimmer of blue light.

They all starred at the spot where the hero disappeared.

The hero that has seen everything, but remembers nothing. The shadow of a man that refuses to die. He’s the Spirit of the Hero...

And the five friends were glad that they camped in the Forest of Time.

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea a while ago: what if Link refused to die, which then turned into this. 
> 
> I might write more about this. Let me know if y'all want more!


End file.
